210 GRAZING ON WOODLANDS 



good results are obtained by the grazing of the woods. This is 

 true quite as much because of the shade afforded to the animals 

 as of the forage which such lands furnish. In any event, if 

 woodlands are to have a permanent place on the farm, the graz- 

 ing should be light and so handled as to favor the production of 

 timber. 



It is a noteworthy fact that farm woodlands are generally in 

 bad condition as a result of grazing; especially is this true where 

 the tenant system of farming is used. The tenant is less partic- 

 ular than is the owner about the damage which the stock do to 

 the young timber and to the protective leaf htter. In this con- 

 nection it is interesting to recall that over one-third of the farms 

 of the United States are occupied by tenants. 



EFFECT OF GOAT GRAZING ON TIMBER REPRODUCTION 



Although the grazing of goats is not a large industry in this 

 country, it plays a relatively important part in many locahties. 

 Approximately 60,000 goats are grazed on the National Forests 

 alone, mainly in Arizona and New Mexico. Goats are also 

 grazed on parts of certain Forests in the Northwest. In general, 

 goats are regarded as paragons of cathoHc taste in that they 

 browse more or less ravenously upon tree reproduction of all 

 kinds regardless of the conditions of the range. 



Chaphne,^ in an unpublished report, points out that goat 

 grazing is a much less serious factor in the establishment of 

 timber reproduction than is generally supposed. On the Gila 

 National Forest in New Mexico, the light grazing of the goat 

 range in the yellow pine type resulted in injury of 10 to 13 per 

 cent of the reproduction. These figures included the accumu- 

 lated injury inflicted after many years of pasturing. On the 

 Alamo Forest in New Mexico, about 12.5 per cent of the yellow 

 pine reproduction was injured after many years of goat grazing. 

 The injury was generally very slight for yellow pine seedlings 

 under two years of age, nor was it serious for seedlings that had 

 attained a height of 6 inches. Contrary to expectations, the 



1 Chapline, W. R., "EflFect of Goat Grazing upon Tree Reproduction." U. S. 

 Forest Service, 1915. 



